This issue's cover story is one of the most important we've
run in recent memory because it gets right to the heart of
this university's mission: educating students. At a
world-class research institution the caliber of Johns
Hopkins -- a name synonymous with excellence in medicine
and top-flight graduate education -- it has been too easy
over the years to overlook the changing needs of the
university's growing undergraduate student body.

As Paula Burger, newly appointed vice provost for
undergraduate education, puts it, "What worked well for a
hardy band of young undergraduate scholars who wanted a
rigorous graduate-style education doesn't work as well when
you've got now 4,000 undergraduates on the Homewood campus
and significant numbers in other areas." Today's Hopkins
undergraduates (whose annual tuition tops $27,000) are
passionate about wanting smaller classes, closer contact
with faculty, expanded opportunities for dorm living and
social cohesiveness, and better career counseling. And
that's just for starters, as you'll find after reading "Not-so-Great Expectations", about
the university's Commission on Undergraduate Education.

The faculty, administrators, and students we spoke with for
the article deserve credit for their candor and honesty.
And the university's top officials deserve credit for
tackling this important issue head-on. They began to
implement key recommendations before the ink had barely
dried on the commission's final report, which was issued in
May.

It's worth noting that though half of all freshmen arrive
expecting not to have a satisfactory student
experience, half do. I was reminded of this recently
when chatting with the 17-year-old son of our art director,
Shaul Tsemach. Amir spent the past year on the college
circuit, visiting Tufts, Penn, Brandeis, Haverford, and
Columbia. Initially, he was not enthusiastic about Johns
Hopkins. "I had bought into the stereotype of it being like
a meat grinder -- a humdrum social scene in a cutthroat
environment," he says. Then one night last fall, he and a
buddy came to Homewood's MSE Library to do research. The
experience proved a turning point. "I overheard a group of
students setting up a 3 a.m. study session, saw others
talking. I realized, this isn't boot camp. It's a highly
competitive school, but kids work together. I saw
myself when I saw those kids." He applied to Hopkins
early decision, was accepted, and is counting down the days
to fall. "I'm confident in my ability to have fun," he told
me. "I know who I am. I'm sure there are other people like
me at Johns Hopkins."